By Libby Riddle, UM News Service
MISSOULA – 91次元 alum Cassidy Randall will serve as the 2026 Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writer in Environmental Studies. As an author and freelance journalist, the Missoula resident covers adventure and the environment in the West. Her most recent book, “Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Journey of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali,” recently won the Banff award in Mountain Literature.
“As an alum of the Environmental Studies graduate program at UM, I couldn’t be more honored to be invited back to teach in this position that’s hosted so many incredible writers,” Randall said.
In the two decades since Randall completed her master’s degree at UM, she has established herself as one of the premier adventure writers in the West. She writes an adventure travel column for Forbes, and her work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, the New York Times, TIME, Politico and Outside, among others.
Her first book, “The Hard Parts” with Paralympian Oksana Masters, was listed as one of the best books of 2023 by The Times. She is a sought-after speaker on women’s empowerment, having carved out a space for diverse voices in the male-dominated field of sports adventure writing.
“Cassidy’s work is proof that by writing with passion about places you love and people you admire, a writer can find her way into the country’s best magazine and reach a huge audience,” said Mark Sundeen, UM associate professor of environmental studies. “Her career is a major point of pride for our environmental studies program.”
Randall will teach a UM graduate workshop in environmental writing in spring semester 2026.
“We’re in an era in which we need writers more than ever to both record and help shape our cultural narratives,” Randall said. “I’m thrilled to work with a new wave of minds who can bring impactful storytelling into this new era.”
UM’s Kittredge Distinguished Writer in Environmental is funded by generous donors and is named in honor of Bill Kittredge (1932-2020), who taught creative writing at UM and inspired three decades of students. Previous Kittredge Distinguished Visiting Writers in Environmental Studies include Terry Tempest Williams, Rebecca Solnit, Craig Childs, Amy Irvine and, most recently, Chris La Tray.
Graduate students interested in Randall’s writing workshop can email mark.sundeen@umontana.edu.
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Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu; Libby Riddle, Science Communications Coordinator, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, elizabeth.riddle@umontana.edu.